Microplasma Processed Ultrathin Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Polymer Nanocomposites with Enhanced Thermal Transport Performance

Abstract

This Research Article reports on the enhancement of the thermal transport properties of nanocomposite materials containing hexagonal boron nitride in poly(vinyl alcohol) through room-temperature atmospheric pressure direct-current microplasma processing. Results show that the microplasma treatment leads to exfoliation of the hexagonal boron nitride in isopropyl alcohol, reducing the number of stacks from >30 to a few or single layers. The thermal diffusivity of the resulting nanocomposites reaches 8.5 mm(2) s(-1), 50 times greater than blank poly(vinyl alcohol) and twice that of nanocomposites containing nonplasma treated boron nitride nanosheets. From TEM analysis, we observe much less aggregation of the nanosheets after plasma processing along with indications of an amorphous carbon interfacial layer, which may contribute to stable dispersion of boron nitride nanosheets in the resulting plasma treated colloids.

Nanoparticles containing boron and its compounds—synthesis and applications: A review

“…It is reported to be converted into smaller stacks to form BN nanosheets through the direct-current microplasma treatment at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. 76 H-BN stacks exfoliate to form a nanosheet structure of a single or few layers of a stable colloid solution in isopropyl alcohol. Also, orientation-controlled h-BN nanosheet structures, in the form of nanowalls, are also synthesized with the help of plasma-enhanced CVD.…”

Highly thermally conductive and electrically insulating polymer nanocomposites with boron nitride nanosheet/ionic liquid complexes

“…Actually, TS polymers have been widely used for ller/polymer composites with high TCs; many studies have described improvement of TCs of BNNS/TS polymer composites [27][28][29][30][31][32][33] in comparison to BNNS/TP polymer composites 19,27,[34][35][36][37] because increasing the TCs of BNNS/TS polymer composites is generally much easier than increasing those of BNNS/TP polymer composites (Table S1 †). 27 In general, wettability of BNNSs with TP polymers is lower than that with TS polymers.…”

Thermoresponsive nanocomposites incorporating microplasma synthesized magnetic nanoparticles—Synthesis and potential applications

“…Using APM‐liquid interactions, we have been able to create complex composites consisting of polymer (e.g., PEDOT:PSS, PVA) and metal or inorganic materials (e.g., TiO 2 , Si nanocrystals, metal NPs, or boron nitride), resulting in improved electrical and thermal performance or promising biomedical applications. The incorporation of NPs in polymer through APM‐assisted approaches resulted in improved particle dispersion and stability, highlighting the great potential of APM as a technique for fabrication of advanced functional nanocomposites.…”